The cervical cancer vaccine may be riskier and more deadly than the cancer it is designed to prevent, a leading expert who developed the drug has warned.

She also claimed the jab would do nothing to reduce the rates of cervical cancer in the UK.

Speaking exclusively to the Sunday Express, Dr Diane Harper, who was involved in the clinical trials of the controversial drug Cervarix, said the jab was being “over-marketed” and parents should be properly warned about the potential side effects.

Authorities in the UK should be on the alert because its sister vaccine, Gardasil, used in America, has already been associated with 32 deaths, she said.

Her comments follow the death of 14-year-old Natalie Morton, who collapsed an hour after receiving the jab at school last week.